Saturday, July 15, 2017

Bloom Day - July 2017

It's bloom day! You can see lots of gorgeous blooms at Carol's blog - as always she is a most gracious host!

Most people have lots of great pictures of summer flowers in their garden, and are waxing poetically about summer evenings... Here, it's been over 100 deg F for 8 out of the last 12 days. And 12 out of the 15 days before that. Let's say there's a lot of room for improvement in how my garden looks in the summer. Especially since i'm not spending a lot of time out there right now.

Enough whining! Some flowers are toughing out the heat with me here:

some buddleja is still in bloom, here and there in the tree.

lantana (this is l. camara, which is the only one that's ever come back) just laughs at the heat.

the hoya kerrii, hiding in the shade, is making blooms and buds since the dove nest got moved.

does this still count as a bloom? Dasylirion quadrangulatum bloom

dicliptera suberecta is doing a lot better at making blooms this year.

the grasses are kind of blooming - purple fountain grass here.

my vitex agnus-castus still has some washed out blooms

2nd flush of the daisies (i should dead head this one!)

a few erythrina x bidwillii blooms - more will come later!

you know it's hot when the russian sage looks washed out.

Coreopsis 'route 66' doesn't mind the heat.

here and there, a few sage blooms are still there - this is Salvia "Silke's Dream" which is new.

most blooms wish they had protection like this late opuntia one...

Hey, one of the cacti is blooming! (wait...)

That's it for here! I'd say we're waiting for cooler temperatures, but that won't happen for a while. Maybe i just need more tough flowers - i'll spend between now and fall planting season thinking about all the potential heat lovers i could add to tempt me out into the garden in the heat of summer!

That heat is brutal! We've been lucky to stay just a bit below 100F for the most part even as the local valleys sizzle - I wish I could send you some of our early morning marine layer. Still, I'm surprised at how many plants in your garden take the heat in stride - I didn't think Coreopsis could handle it.

your marine layer is a thing a beauty for sure! I love flying into LAX and seeing it blanket the coast... some trial and error has definitely been required to find the right coreopsis (RIP all the other ones!) Thanks for visiting and happy bloom day!

Not bad, about like my yard and neighbors' yards. Summer dormancy is a real thing in the desert southwest. I've noticed the same thing with Russian Sage fading, but that's a good reminder on Coreopsis...

Geez, that's hot! I should cut down on the whining when our temps only hit the 80s. I don't like even a touch of heat at all, I have to really push myself to get out and continue to water and cut back spent flowers at this time of year. Kudos to you for braving the heat and taking some photos to share!